The Earth is going through a significant climate shift, often attributed to a combination of geological and human activities. Climate change has a huge impact on British Columbia. Changing patterns of rainfall and snowfall affect rivers, lakes and groundwater. Recent analysis of historical data indicate changes in freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems that are linked to climate: lakes and rivers thaw much earlier; over the last 30 years at least two large glaciers in southern BC have retreated by over a kilometer each; and, the Fraser River discharges most of its total annual flow sooner.

challenge

People tend to think that global warming is something fictional and will not affect the future in a big way, but in the reality it will have an enormous impact on our resources, our everyday lives and, will cast a huge shadow on British Columbia.

solution

To raise awareness of the effect of climate change in British Columbia I designed an advertising poster and an idea for guerilla marketing. My concept depicts a glass of water as symbol for what we take for granted in our everyday lives — with the addition of measurements to indicate 100 years — from 1950 to 2050. Unfortunately our fresh water is not endless and ‘we’ are compromising fresh water sustainability through industry and our interaction with the world. 2050 is significant because scientists say it’s a pivotal moment in the history of humanity — warming will be an irreversible trend.

The second part of my solution is to use the glass as a guerilla marketing piece – sharing our alarming reality in an everyday context to create awareness of the problem.